Bangladesh appoints new governor after central bank chief resigns over $101 million reserve heist

By

Sheuli Akter

Amid widespread criticism over a $101 million heist from a Bangladesh Bank account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the country’s central bank Governor Atiur Rahman has resigned citing “moral grounds“.

Rahman on Tuesaday morning submitted his resignation letter to the Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

“I’ve opted to quit out of moral responsibility,” Rahman said at a press briefing later in the day.

Rahman was blamed for keeping the government in the dark about the theft which occurred on Feb. 4.

The matter sparked huge uproar in Bangladesh after local and foreign media last week reported that Bangladesh Bank money had been stolen and transferred to Sri Lanka and the Philippines by hackers last month.

Some $20 million of the stolen money has so far been reportfly recovered.

Bangladeshi Finance Minister AMA Muhith, however, on Tuesday announced that steps are under way to appoint former Finance Secretary Fazle Kabir, who is now chairman of the state-owned Sonali Bank’s board, as the new central bank chief. He said Kabir will join as the new BB governor next week. A three-member high-powered committee has also been formed to investigate the heist, he added.

Also on Tuesday the Bangladesh Bank filed a case against unidentified people for the reserve heist. The hacking took place on the night of February 4, using information stolen through malware.

Sheuli Akter

Sheuli Akter, from Bangladesh, is a Special Correspondent and Editor of NsNewsWire, (Bangladesh’s First Press Newswire). Previously she had worked for Bangladesh’ top news agency, United News of Bangladesh (UNB) and top newspaper (now defunct) The Bangladesh Observer. She also gained an honourable mention in the first ever World Media Summit WMS Awards for ‘Exemplary News Professionals in Developing Countries’, receiving the award in Beijing in January 2015.